10 Mythical American Monsters

Slenderman is usually inserted digitally into pictures, dressed in a black suit, with tentacles for arms, hovering eerily in the distance of deserted places (or in this case, the University of Virginia). Bob Mical/Flckr

Slenderman is a notable legendary figure for two main reasons. He's the world's first mythical creature spawned on the Internet, and there's no question as to whether or not he really exists. Slenderman was created by Floridian Eric Knudsen in 2009 on the Something Awful web forum, where people doctor photos and then write stories about them. Knudsen's photo depicted a tall, willowy, fuzzy figure. He didn't initially write much about it, but hinted at its evil character.

Fellow forum posters added details, as did Knudsen. Over time Slenderman spread onto other forums and his description began to morph. Sometimes he had multiple arms, other times none. Sometimes he killed his victims, other times his followers killed people for him. Often, you never knew what happened when he caught someone – just that it likely wasn't pretty. Although Knudsen eventually stopped developing the Slenderman character, it lives on through the Internet and its fans, many of whom are teenagers. Tragically, in 2014 two 12-year-old girls almost killed a friend by stabbing her 19 times, in the hopes of pleasing Slenderman, who they thought was real [sources: Biggs, Dewey]. That's the most terrifying Slenderman story of all.

Author's Note: 10 Mythical American Monsters

I'd certainly heard of Bigfoot before I dug into this article. And Slenderman, since the awful near-killing of a child to please him took place in my home state of Wisconsin. But who knew there were so many other monsters out there? I sure didn't.

Biggs, John. "The Story Of Slenderman, The Internet's Own Monster." Tech Crunch. June 30, 2014. (Oct. 13, 2014) http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/30/the-story-of-slenderman-the-internets-own-monster/

Dewey, Caitlin. "The complete, terrifying history of 'Slender Man,' the Internet meme that compelled two 12-year-olds to stab their friend." The Washington Post. June 3, 2014. (Oct. 13, 2014) http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/06/03/the-complete-terrifying-history-of-slender-man-the-internet-meme-that-compelled-two-12-year-olds-to-stab-their-friend/

Ross, Philip. "Is The Chupacabra Real? Why The Legend Of The 'Goat Sucker' Endures And What Science Says About It." International Business Times. April 9, 2012. (Oct. 13, 2014) http://www.ibtimes.com/chupacabra-real-why-legend-goat-sucker-endures-what-science-says-about-it-1569567